Meet a Journalist

A journalist's profile, stories and career in the field of journalism. Know a journalist who should be profiled here? Send an e-mail to Janet E. Bardon

June 29, 2001
Margaret Piton
Freelancer Writer
Westmount, Quebec
PMpiton@aol.com

I'm not sure I chose journalism, I think journalism more or less happened as a result of failures in other lines of work -- academic work and the diplomatic corps. I failed to pass the final test to enter the US foreign service and also failed my PhD orals, and after each failure I went back to journalism, which I seemed to be pretty good at.

I had long had an interest in journalism, devouring newspapers and TV news and documentary shows from an early age. I studied political science as an undergraduate at Saint Mary's College in Indiana, then took an MA in international studies at Johns Hopkins. I held summer intern jobs with a newspaper (The Columbus Dispatch) and with the US Information Agency during my undergrad years.

For a number of years I wavered between grad school and journalism jobs, (at the Bureau of National Affairs, The Gazette, The Globe and Mail, etc.) and I do not think I will ever complete my post-secondary education. In recent years I have taken university courses in psychology, pre-med and TESL, and have myself taught journalism. Earlier I taught political science at the University of Alberta.

One of the highlights of my journalism career was touring the castle at Bad Ischl in Austria with the great-grandson of Emperor Franz Joseph as a tour guide. The castle has many momentoes of the family, including the declaration of war by Franz Joseph against Serbia that led to the outbreak of World War I. I have a lasting interest in the history of that period, and it was a thrill to see it up close. I was able to mention the item in a travel column I was writing for The Globe and Mail.

I had a number of people who helped me in journalism -- Don McGillivray, David Tafler, Terry Corcoran, Kendal Windeyer, Marjorie Nichols, Al Rogers, Ian Carman, Joe Cohen, Peter Harris, etc. but I'm not sure any of them were actual mentors.

For people considering a career in journalism I would advise getting the broadest education possible -- study languages, history, science, economics, art, and never stop learning. You can learn the nitty-gritty of journalism on the job. Also, travel as much as possible and gather a broad variety of experience. One practical skill that is useful in journalism is shorthand.

I believe three major challenges face journalists today -- media concentration, which limits the variety of voices heard, and its close ally political correctness, which specifies what we can all think and say. These factors are aided by a third, the dumbing down of North American society, which inhibits our desire to know and to speak the truth.